7 died, 700 ill because of Anti-elephantiasis

Apr 2, 2011 @ 11:30

Nepal Medical Association (NMA) expressed its deep concern over the deaths and suffering of the victims who consumed the elephantiasis prevention drug distributed by the government. At least seven people died and around 700 took “seriously ill” in the last three days, according to unofficial reports.

Elephantiasis is a disease that causes thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the lower body, caused by small, threadlike parasitic worms spread by Culex female mosquitoes.

The government administered two free different drugs — Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole — to 14.5 million people aged above 2 years in 36 districts on March 26 and 27 and they began showing adverse side effects from Wednesday.
High rate of deaths and illness are being reported from Banke, Bardiya, Saptari, Dang and Okhaldhunga districts. In Banke alone, two persons died and more than 500 took ill. Two died in Saptari and 50 people were referred to BP Koirala Memorial Hospital, Dharan. One person died in Dang and one in Okhaldhunga. By Friday evening, more than 100 similar cases have been registered in various health institutions, hospitals across the country.

Meanwhile, medical teams are in field studies in Banke, Bardiya, Saptari and Dang and will prepare report by Sunday. “The drugs cause various side effects like high fever, severe headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness, but not death,” Dr Biswa Raj Khanal, senior Public Health Administrator at EDCD, said. He added, EDCD has been administering the anti-elephantiasis pill for the last 50 years and Albendazole for last 20 years at the recommendation of WHO.
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In this selfish world, still there live good people, honest people. This has been proved by recent incident when twenty year old Anuja Baniya returned a bag containing Rs. 9.1 million and a diamond necklace to the owner.

 

On April 9, Purushottam Poudel of Sitapaila, Kathmandu was heading to his daughter’s house at Dharan-9 and absentmindedly left the bag when he got off the vehicle. He had received the cash from a IME Itahari branch that he had transferred from the Capital. Poudel was thinking to take the money to his daughter, Sudha Pokharel for the purpose of purchasing a house.

 

But Poudel became hopeless when he came to know about it and returned to Kathmandu without informing the police. Fortunately, the bag was found by honest Anuja Baniya while travelling in Dharan. Baniya, a permanent resident of Jhulke of Bhojpur, has been staying in Dharan of Sunsari, with her uncle and aunt. She is an ordinary woman with just normal education.

 

When nobody claimed the bag, Baniya took it to her residence thinking to return it to the rightful owner with the help of documents that the bag possibly contained. She was dumbstruck when she opened the bag and found Rs. 9.1 million cash and a diamond necklace.

 

Baniya found the owner’s telephone number from the documents inside the bag and informed Poudel at his residence of finding the bag by telephone. Then Poudel came to Dharan on April 12 and received the money after three days.

 

According to Anita Karki, a relative of Poudel, he offered Rs. 200,000 to Baniya as a cash reward but she refused it. Poudel later tried to gift her, the diamond necklace but she refused it too.

 

Baniya spent some time with Poudel family after handing over the cash and valuables, but she refused to give her address and contact number. “People may not believe it. But it’s a true story of this remarkable women’s honesty,” said elated Pokharel, 65.